Resonant Objects, Done Right

02.23.12 1:56 AM ET

This recent piece by the veteran sculptor Robert Grosvenor is now in his solo show now at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York. Yesterday in this space, I wrote about the sheer, indomitable painterly skill of Joan Mitchell. Today, it’s a matter of the sheer sculptural authority of Grosvenor. I’m not saying that I’m in favor of “traditional artistic values ,” but it is impressive when you see how totally some older artists learned to understand and command their media. That doesn’t make Grosvenor a better artist than his younger contemporaries, but it does mean that he’s more likely to make coherent, excellent sculpture – as he has for his show at Cooper. (Top photo by Lucy Hogg; bottom photo courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery.)